MORNING REPORT

June 30, 1995|JERRY CROWE | Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation's press

PEOPLE WATCH

Saddened Hurley 'Alone': British actor Hugh Grant, arrested for alleged lewd conduct in Hollywood with a woman identified as a prostitute, stayed out of sight Thursday while his stunned girlfriend, Elizabeth Hurley, said she had been left feeling "very much alone." "I am still bewildered and saddened by recent events and have not been in a fit state to make any decisions about the future," she said in a statement in London, where speculation swirled over one of Britain's most glamorous couples. Grant, 34, who shot to fame in the film "Four Weddings and a Funeral," was booked by Los Angeles police Tuesday on suspicion of lewd conduct. Police allege he picked up a prostitute on Sunset Boulevard and engaged in a sex act with her in his car. He has hired lawyer Howard Weitzman, whose previous clients have included Michael Jackson and O.J. Simpson. "This is all very painful for me," said 29-year-old Hurley, an Estee Lauder model, in her first public reaction to the news. "For years I have turned to Hugh for help during difficult times and so now, even though my family and friends have been very kind, I am very much alone." (For more on Hurley, see Liz Smith, below.)

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Stone Disses Dole: Filmmaker Oliver Stone lashed back at Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole for his latest attack on the film industry and Stone's movie "Natural Born Killers," which took place Tuesday on the Senate floor. "Sen. Dole's renewed attack on my film is a shameless act of political grandstanding and hypocrisy, coming from the man who is leading the . . . campaign to repeal the assault weapons ban," Stone said in a statement. Stone urged Dole to re-examine his own support for assault weapons instead of attacking Hollywood. "It doesn't make much sense to condemn make-believe guns but promote real ones," he said.

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Stayin' Alive: The white suit worn by John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever" sold Wednesday at a Christie's auction in New York for $145,500, which the auctioneer jokingly referred to as "certainly a record for polyester." The buyer was unknown, but the seller was film critic Gene Siskel, who bought the three-piece suit and black shirt for $2,000 at a charity auction in 1979, outbidding Jane Fonda.

MOVIES

Oscar Changes: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is changing the way it selects nominees for best documentary following the widespread criticism earlier this year when "Hoop Dreams" was not among this year's nominees. Rather than having one group responsible for the nominees, the academy will split the documentary committee into two groups, one in New York and one in Los Angeles. Those groups will screen half the submitted documentaries and make recommendations to the other. Both committees will watch all the films all the way through. Some of the criticism was based on the fact that there were few active filmmakers who had the time to watch all the potential nominees. The new procedure reduces the number of films they screen. In addition, the past procedures allowed committee members to vote to end a screening in the middle of a movie.

TELEVISION

Video No-No: Century Cable has pulled an advertisement for an adults-only video music collection. The ad had aired on MTV and VH1 the last few weeks during the day and early evening. Officials for the cable system said the ad for the collection, called "Exhibition," had aired mistakenly during hours when children may have been watching. "Exhibition," which is on sale at major record stores, shows male nude dancers and performers in various settings. The collection is advertised as "5 Videos Too Hot for MTV." MTV and VH1 are not affiliated with the makers of the video, Alluvial Entertainment, which purchased local air time for the commercial. Century serves subscribers in Hollywood, West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, among other areas.

MUSIC

Baskerville Replaces Eaglen: Soprano Priscilla Baskerville will replace Jane Eaglen in the "Grand Night for Opera" program tonight at 8:30 at the Hollywood Bowl. Eaglen has tracheitis. Two other Los Angeles-based singers, baritones Richard Bernstein and Michael Geiger, have been added to the slightly revised program. John Mauceri will still conduct the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. The other originally announced soloists will sing as scheduled.

QUICK TAKES

Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, will go before the cameras to help make a television documentary about domestic violence that will be hosted by actress Kathleen Turner. . . . The Artist Formerly Known as Prince will release his long-awaited album, "The Gold Experience," Sept. 12 on Warner Bros. The label, embroiled in an ongoing dispute with the artist, originally declined to release the album, which includes the hit single "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World." The single was released on the artist's own label. . . . Star Jones, who won acclaim as a legal commentator for "NBC News," has joined "Inside Edition" as a senior correspondent.